Monday June 23, 2014

I recently studied and passed the International Software Testing Qualification Board’s (ISTQB) exam to become a Certified Tester, Foundation Level (CFTL). During my career I have been a tester, managed a test group and consulted on testing processes. As a tester and a test manager, I was not explicitly aware of the seven principles of testing; however, I think I understood them in my gut. Unfortunately, most of my managers and clients did not seem to understand them, which meant they behaved in a way that never felt rational and typically led to numerous discussions as to why bugs made it into production.

Whether you are involved in testing, developing, enhancing, supporting or managing IT projects, an understanding of the principles of testing can and should influence your professional behavior. In this article, I have broken the seven principles into two groups, which I believe makes them easier to understand in terms of the bigger picture of testing. Group one relates to explaining why we can’t catch all software bugs and group two focuses on where we should look for defects.